This invention relates to outdoor cooking grills and more particularly to a grill having a simple and effective keep-warm shelf associated with the grill.
Outdoor grills, or barbecue grills as they are sometimes called, normally include a lower housing or firebox in which either charcoal or a gas burner is disposed. A grilling surface is positioned above the charcoal or burner near the top opening in the lower housing or firebox. Hingeably connected to the lower housing is a cover or upper housing which is movable between a retracted position in which it extends generally vertically and a closed position in which it covers the grilling surface and tends to confine heat and smoke in the area in which the food is being cooked on the grill.
There are many instances in which it is desirable to either keep warm previously cooked food or heat food with a lower level of heat than would be obtained on the normal grilling surface of the outdoor grill. In such cases there have been secondary shelves or supports provided which are more remote from the charcoal or gas burner and, therefore, are not subjected to as much heat as the grilling surface itself. Examples of prior art grills having such keep-warm shelves or trays are Winters U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,290 and Bauer U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,493. In the Bauer patent the keep-warm shelf or grate 14 is fixedly located and is positioned rearwardly of the grilling surface or grill grate 13. In such an arrangement, the keep-warm shelf takes up additional space and results in a more cumbersome grill than one without such a keep-warm shelf.
The Winters U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,290 on the other hand has a shelf 29 which is supported by a parallel linkage so that it moves from a position immediately above the grilling surface as shown in FIG. 4 to a retracted position further elevated above the lower housing and retracted to the rear as shown in FIG. 2. Both of these prior art devices are relatively complex and add substantially to the cost of the grill for a feature which is of somewhat limited interest to the user.